VE Day 75 commemorations

Restrictions on public gatherings due to the coronavirus pandemic meant that long awaited plans to mark the 75th anniversary of VE Day on 8th May with a series of street parties had to be altered at short notice.

Fortunately, the whole community, determined not to let the sacrifices of the wartime generation be forgotten, hosted a town-wide stay at home street party. There was a fantastic demonstration of community spirit as people sat in their front gardens, enjoying the sunshine and chatting to their neighbours, with many also decorating their houses to mark the occasion.

At the break of dawn, Dan Scobie, then Mayor of Shipston, Sheelagh Saunders, then Deputy Mayor, and David Kernohan, President of the Shipston-on-Stour branch of The Royal British Legion gathered in the Gyratory Garden. They placed bouquets of flowers on the memorial sundial that was erected in 1995 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the end of the Second World War.